Why the Joy of Giving Lasts Longer than the Joy of Receiving

I'm writing this on a Sunday, I've just finished a volunteer session down at my local park.  There is a River that runs down the edge of the park and we volunteers, cut down the undergrowth so it doesn't take over.  Also so people can actually see the wildlife in the river.  It's only a couple of hours, but hard work.  But my girlfriend and I always feel good when we walk back to our car.

Like the Christmas I worked at Crisis helping the homeless, sometimes in life you have to give back.  And do you know what, it feels good!.

Contrast this with the "salesman" who has just contacted me over LinkedIn.

He looked at my LinkedIn profile and I suggested we connect and he has come back with "Thanks for the invitation to connect. Now we are connected, what is the best way that I can add value and what prompted to you want to connect.".

It's a pretty common response from a salesperson, I get many like this.  So the first thing is that it does not stand out.  The second is this term "add value".  Add value is a meaningless term, that is used by sales people when they mean "can I sell you my shit".  We don't even know each other and he wants to sell me shit.

It's like meeting somebody in the bar for the first time and proposing marriage.  Surley, we should have a drink, a meal, maybe a few more dates before we even think about marriage.  Asking for marriage at the first date is weird! 

One of the things I've always done with my clients is helped them.  I've found them leads.  I've referred people to them, so they buy and so my customer is even more successful.  I connect like minded customers to other customers, so they can share ideas.

Maybe this is "adding value".  But I can tell you the joy of giving is pretty sensational.